Whilst clearing out the loft lately I came across this Spanish hayfork.

They are grown in rows in beds and trained into shape as they grow. I can see 6-7 annual rings in the end of the handle. Then they are cut down, peeled, pointed and voila. (Can't tell what species it is)

Anyway it reminded me of a book which I have

They are available on Amazon and Abe but seem very expensive for quite a small paperback which was published in 1995 - ISBN 0-9647280-0-1

Inspired by Axel Erlandson's "Tree Circus", the author explains the process of grafting, framing, pruning and notching to produce a chair. I'm going to have a go this year - find some whips of ash, elder or sycamore - maybe even start several.Watch this space - in a few years time !

I have a Daniel Mack book ` Making rustic furniture` and he has pictures of some Victoran guy who spent 11 years grafting a hazel chair. His name was John Krubsack and I must say the the finished chair was well worth the effort. How much would you charge for that, minimum wage at £6 ish per hour for 11 years!!!!!If I had some land I would give it a go.

"Scarcely anything is original- it`s very hard to be totally inventive, so I am not terribly interested in originality. Vitality is all I care about" Clive JamesGreen wood courses, tools, demonstrations.http://www.seanhellman.com/woodwork/

I`ve got some GM willow seeds for sale, they grow at a rate of 2ft a week. So yes maybe a new competition class, home grown chairs

"Scarcely anything is original- it`s very hard to be totally inventive, so I am not terribly interested in originality. Vitality is all I care about" Clive JamesGreen wood courses, tools, demonstrations.http://www.seanhellman.com/woodwork/

Interesting thread. I actually am in the process of training an ash tree for over a year or more. I dont want it to sing or dance or play drums, rather I am forming one of its branches into a ready made curved chair arm. I used rope. It might take 5 or 6 years but I can wait. I thought it might be an interesting way to get a peasantish rough hewn type thing with no faffing about steaming. I can do that OK but tend to burn out the steamers they dont seem to put cut outs on them like you get on a kettle. Owen's galvanised boiling tank is better for that I feel. I saw some great right angle knee bends the other day in an oak tree, but that was down to the tree being storm pruned I guess.....